Utrecht to benefit from emergency response unit

From the ashes of tragedy, one family hope they can spare others from the devastation caused by fire.

Establishing a functioning fire and rescue service in Utrecht might appear to be a tall order, yet Jurie van Staden has relocated his family from Gauteng to do just that.

Together with his majority shareholder and wife, Pro Ethnos Services opened its doors in the area in October.

“Pro Ethnos Services is a fire, medical and hazardous chemical focused company,” the operations director explained.

Since relocating to Utrecht, the company has taken on the role of identifying unemployed young men and women from the community, and training them to be effective in emergency response.

The end game, he explained, was the establishment of a fully functioning fire and rescue department.

Speaking on his background and that of the service, Mr van Staden said his comfort with wearing a uniform stemmed from his father’s role as head of the Protection Services in Utrecht in the 1980s.

Following in his footsteps, Mr van Staden completed his National Fire Protection Association qualifications.

“Pro Ethnos Services was established in 2004 and was trading as a sole proprietor till 2012 when it was registered as a Pty Ltd. We were based in Springs for the last three years.”

His road to opening his doors in Utrecht led Mr van Staden to his mother-in-law’s house in October this year, when the house across the road was gutted by a fire and burned to the ground.

A young man was caught in the blaze and was rushed to hospital by a member of public.

“He sustained third degree burns to 90 per cent of his body and died the next day.”

Not long thereafter, Mr van Staden added, two children aged two and four died in an outlying area of Utrecht, and three young people died in a fire at Bensdorp.

“That night, I decided to move my business from Gauteng to Utrecht.”

Mr van Staden intends to serve Utrecht and the district, in terms of emergency medical, fire, rescue and hazardous chemical response, providing residents access to a 24-hour control room, public education and service maintenance.

“Pro Ethnos will also conduct fire and chemical compliance inspections of local business.”

Other services, he added, included wild-land fire fighting activities for the game park and the agricultural community, including assistance with fire breaks before the winter grass fire season.

Pro Ethnos will work in an area of approximately 80 kilometres around Utrecht.

This will include the R34 from Utrecht to the Newcastle turn-off, from Utrecht to the Blood River turn-off and up toward Vryheid and the stretch leading up to Wakkerstroom.

Although positive, Mr van Staden is not blind to the challenges he faces.

Problems he foresees include the failing water supply system, which has resulted in as few as 30 per cent of all town hydrants either damaged, out of order or without water.

“As a service, we spent the week inspecting and identifying the location of each hydrant.”

Another potential pitfall is Utrecht’s lack of a functioning fire engine, with one vehicle repaired and the other in for repairs, as well as the need to purchase more equipment.

In terms of volunteers, Pro Ethnos currently has 38 volunteers, with another 38 to be employed in 2014.

Volunteers, he explained, were required to be within the ages of 18 and 33, have a Grade 10 qualification, needed to pass a strenuous fitness test, and a driver’s licence and matric certificate were advantageous.

Volunteerism has contributed to Pro Ethnos’ successes.

“We ran a volunteer service working with Strubenvale Community Policing Forum (CPF) in Gauteng. We ran the programme for over a year and our response times and treatment were of a high standard.”

The service has since approached the Utrecht Municipality and submitted a full proposal and invitation to the office of the mayor, encouraging the town council and community leaders to meet with volunteers.